Pontianak (folklore)

The pontianak (Dutch-Indonesian spelling: boentianak, Jawi: ڤونتيانق) is a vampiric ghost in Malay and Indonesian mythology. It is also known as a matianak or kuntilanak, sometimes shortened to kunti. The pontianak are said to be the spirits of women who died while pregnant. This is often confused with a related creature, the lang suir, which is the ghost of a woman who died while giving birth. The word pontianak is reportedly a corruption of the Malay perempuan mati beranak, or “woman who died in childbirth”. Another theory is that the word is a combination of puan (woman) + mati (die) + anak (child). The term matianak means "death of a child". The city of Pontianak in Indonesia is named after this creature, which was claimed to have haunted the first sultan who once settled there.

Appearance

Pontianaks are usually depicted as pale-skinned women with long hair and dressed in white, but they are said to be able to take on a beautiful appearance since they prey on men.

In folklore, a pontianak usually announces its presence through high-pitched baby cries. If the cry is soft, it means that the pontianak is close, and if it is loud, then it must be far. Some believe that if you hear a dog howling, that means that the pontianak is far away. But if a dog is whining, that means the pontianak is nearby. Its presence can sometimes be detected by a nice floral fragrance identifiable as that of the plumeria, followed by an awful stench afterwards.

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